Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

A refrigerator is provided. The refrigerator may have a refrigerator body having a first storage chamber and a second storage chamber, an evaporator located at the first storage chamber, a cooling fan disposed at one side of the evaporator, a circulation path formed to include the evaporator and the cooling fan, the circulation path having a plurality of openings at upper and lower parts of the first storage chamber, an upper communication portion arranged to connect upper regions of each of the first and second storage chambers, a lower communication portion arranged to connect lower regions of each of the first and second storage chambers, a temperature sensor unit configured to sense inner temperatures of the second storage chamber and a controller being configured to control a rotation direction of the cooling fan based on the detected temperatures of the temperature sensor unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in priority Korean Application No. 10-2011-0141443, filed on Dec. 23, 2011, which is herein expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates generally to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a refrigerator capable of rapidly solving a deviation in an inner temperature of a storage chamber.

2. Description of Related Art

A refrigerator is an apparatus for storing food items in a frozen or cool state. The refrigerator may include a refrigerator body having a storage chamber therein and a refrigerating cycle device configured to provide cool air to the storage chamber.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary view of a refrigerator in accordance with the related art and FIG. 2 is a view showing an evaporator and a cooling fan of the refrigerator of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator may include a refrigerator body 10 having a storage chamber 20 therein, a refrigerating cycle device (not shown) configured to provide cool air to the refrigerator body 10 and a door 30 provided on a front surface of the refrigerator body 10 to open and close the storage chamber 20. The refrigerating cycle device may be configured as a vapor-compression type refrigerating cycle device including a compressor configured to compress a refrigerant, a condenser configured to condense a refrigerant, an expander configured to depressurize/expand a refrigerant and an evaporator configured to evaporate a refrigerant by absorbing peripheral latent heat.

The storage chamber 20 may include a freezing chamber 21 and a refrigerating chamber 22. The door 30 may include a freezing chamber door 31 configured to open and close the freezing chamber 21 and a refrigerating chamber door 32 configured to open and close the refrigerating chamber 22.

The freezing chamber 21 and the refrigerating chamber 22 may be partitioned from each other by a mullion (partition wall) 15. The mullion 15 may be arranged to extend in upper and lower directions (vertical) of the refrigerator body 10.

A circulation path 40 along which air circulates to be cooled may be provided at a rear region of the freezing chamber 21 and may be arranged to circulate in the upper and lower directions. An inlet 42 through which air is introduced into the refrigerator may be formed at a lower region of the circulation path 40. An outlet 44 through which air is discharged from the refrigerator may be formed at an upper region of the circulation path 40. An evaporator 45 configured to cool air may be provided at the circulation path 40. A cooling fan 47 may be disposed above the evaporator 45. Under such configuration, flow of air along the circulation path 40 can be accelerated.

A communication unit (not shown) may be formed at an upper region of the mullion 15 so that the freezing chamber 21 and the refrigerating chamber 22 can communicate with each other. As a result, cool air inside the freezing chamber 21 can be provided to the refrigerating chamber 22.

A cool air duct 25 may be disposed at an upper region of the refrigerating chamber 22. A cool air discharge hole (not shown) through which cool air is discharged may be formed at the cool air duct 25. The cool air duct 25 may be installed so as to cooperate with the communication unit. As a result, cool air supplied from the freezing chamber 21 can be discharged into the refrigerating chamber 22.

A suction hole 19 through which air inside the refrigerating chamber 22 is sucked to the freezing chamber 21 may be formed at a lower region of the refrigerating chamber 22.

However, the conventional refrigerator may have the following problems. First, since cool air is discharged from the upper side of the storage chamber 20, a temperature deviation between upper and lower regions inside the storage chamber 20 may increase. This may cause food items stored in the upper region of the storage chamber 20 to be overcooled and cause the lower region to be under-cooled.

In order to prevent the upper region of the refrigerating chamber 22 from being overcooled, the amount of cool air to be supplied may be reduced or stopped. However, in this case, food items stored in a middle or lower region of the refrigerating chamber 22 may be slowly or insufficiently cooled.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, an aspect of the detailed description is to provide a refrigerator capable of rapidly solving a deviation in an inner temperature of a storage chamber.

Another aspect of the detailed description is to provide a refrigerator capable of directly supplying cool air into a lower region of a storage chamber.

Still another aspect of the detailed description is to provide a refrigerator capable of preventing an upper region of a storage chamber from being overcooled and capable of rapidly cooling a lower region of the storage chamber.

To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of this specification, as embodied and broadly described herein, there is provided a refrigerator having a refrigerator body having at least a first storage chamber and a second storage chamber, an evaporator located at the first storage chamber, a cooling fan disposed at one side of the evaporator, the cooling fan being configured to be rotatable forward and backward, a circulation path formed to include the evaporator and the cooling fan, the circulation path having a plurality of openings at upper and lower parts of the first storage chamber, an upper communication portion arranged to connect upper regions of each of the first and second storage chambers, a lower communication portion arranged to connect lower regions of each of the first and second storage chambers, a temperature sensor unit configured to sense inner temperatures of the second storage chamber and a controller being configured to control a rotation direction of the cooling fan based on the detected temperatures of the temperature sensor unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refrigerator having a refrigerator body having a plurality of storage chambers. Each storage chamber includes an evaporator, a cooling fan being disposed at one side of the evaporator, the cooling fan being configured to be rotatable forward and backward, a circulation path formed to enclose the evaporator and the cooling fan, the circulation path having a plurality of openings at upper and lower parts of the storage chamber and a temperature sensor unit configured to sense inner temperatures of the second storage chamber. The refrigerator also includes a controller configured to control a rotation direction of each cooling fan based on detected temperatures of the temperature sensor units for the corresponding storage chamber.

Further scope of applicability of the present application will become more apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary embodiments and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary view of a refrigerator in accordance with the related art;

FIG. 2 is a view showing an evaporator and a cooling fan of the refrigerator of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view showing a configuration of a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view showing circulation of cool air when a cooling fan of the refrigerator of FIG. 3 rotates in reverse or backwards;

FIG. 6 is a view showing a configuration of a refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view showing a configuration of a refrigerator according to still another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a control block diagram of the refrigerator of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Description will now be given in detail of the exemplary embodiments, with reference to the accompanying drawings. For the sake of brief description with reference to the drawings, the same or equivalent components will be provided with the same reference numbers, and description thereof will not be repeated. Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the attached drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a refrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a refrigerator body 110 having a storage chamber 120 provided therein, a circulation path 140 having openings 142 and 144 spaced from each other and communicating with the storage chamber 120, an evaporator 145 configured to cool air, a cooling fan 147, which can be rotated forward and backward, configured to circulate cool air in the storage chamber 120, a temperature sensor unit 160 configured to sense a temperature of the storage chamber 120, and a controller 150 configured to control a rotation direction of the cooling fan 147 based on a result by the temperature sensor unit 160. The storage chamber 120 indicates a space for storing food items in a cooled state. The refrigerator body 110 may include a freezing chamber 121 and a refrigerating chamber 122. That is, the storage chamber 120 provided in the refrigerator body may include the freezing chamber 121 and the refrigerating chamber 122.

The refrigerator body 110 may be provided with a door (not shown) configured to open and close the storage chamber 120. The door may include a freezing chamber door configured to open and close the freezing chamber 121 and a refrigerating chamber door configured to open and close the refrigerating chamber 122.

The freezing chamber 121 and the refrigerating chamber 122 may be disposed side-by-side in a state where a vertically-arranged mullion (partition wall) 115 is disposed therebetween. The freezing chamber 121 and the refrigerating chamber 122 may be formed to have a length greater than a width (as measured in a right to left direction shown in FIG. 3).

A circulation path 140 along which air inside the freezing chamber 121 circulates to be cooled may be provided at the freezing chamber 121. The circulation path 140 may be formed at a rear region of the freezing chamber 121 and may be configured to extend in upper and lower directions of the freezing chamber 121.

The circulation path 140 may be provided with openings 142 and 144 through which air inside the freezing chamber 121 flows. For instance, the lower opening 142 through which air inside the freezing chamber 121 can be introduced to the circulation path 140 may be provided at a lower region of the freezing chamber 121 and the upper opening 144 through which air inside the circulation path 140 can be discharged to the outside may be provided at an upper region of the freezing chamber 121. The upper opening 144 may be implemented as a plurality of openings spaced from each other in upper and lower directions.

The circulation path 140 may be provided with an evaporator 145 such that air can be cooled while circulating along the circulation path 140. A cooling fan 147 may be provided at the circulation path 140 such that air flowing along the circulation path 140 can be accelerated. The cooling fan 147 may be provided at one side of the evaporator 145, for example, above the evaporator 145.

The cooling fan 147 may be configured to rotate forward (e.g., clockwise rotation) and backward (e.g., counterclockwise rotation). For instance, the cooling fan 147 may be configured to suck air below the evaporator 145 and to discharge the sucked air to the upper side while rotating forward. The cooling fan 147 may be configured as a centrifugal fan for sucking air in an axial direction and discharging the sucked air in a radial direction.

The upper opening 144 may be a discharge hole for freezing chamber cool air so that air cooled while flowing along the circulation path 140 (i.e., cool air) is discharged therefrom.

A communication unit 116 configured to communicate the freezing chamber 121 and the refrigerating chamber 122 with each other may be formed at the mullion 115. The communication unit 116 may be formed at an upper region and a lower region of the mullion 115. For example, the communication unit 116 may be provided with an upper communication portion 117 and a lower communication portion 119 spaced from each other in upper and lower directions. The upper communication portion 117 may be a cool air inlet, such that cool air inside the freezing chamber 121 is introduced into the cooling chamber 122 when the cooling fan 147 is rotated forward. The lower communication portion 119 may be a suction hole, such that cool air inside the refrigerating chamber 122 is introduced into the circulation path 140 when the cooling fan 147 is rotated forward.

A cool air duct 125 may be disposed at an upper region of the refrigerating chamber 122 so as to communicate with the upper communication portion 117. The cool air duct 125 may be provided with a plurality of cool air discharge holes 127 through which cool air is discharged, when the cooling fan 147 is rotated forward. The cool air discharge holes 127 may be configured to discharge cool air to the front side and/or the lower side of the cool air duct 125.

The temperature sensor unit 160 configured to sense an inner temperature of the refrigerating chamber 122 may be provided in the refrigerating chamber 122. The temperature sensor unit 160 may be provided with an upper temperature sensor 162 configured to sense a temperature of an upper region of the refrigerating chamber 122 and a lower temperature sensor 164 configured to sense a temperature of a lower region of the refrigerating chamber 122.

The refrigerator according to this embodiment may include a controller 150 configured to control the cooling fan 147 based on a sensed temperature in the refrigerating chamber 122. For instance, the controller 150 may be implemented as a microprocessor having a control program. The controller 150 may be configured to sense inner temperatures of the refrigerating chamber 122 by the temperature sensor unit 160. If an upper temperature and a lower temperature of the refrigerating chamber 122 exceed an upper preset temperature and a lower preset temperature, respectively, the controller 150 may control the cooling fan 147 to rotate forward. If an upper temperature is less than the upper preset temperature and a lower temperature exceeds the lower preset temperature, the controller 150 may control the cooling fan 147 to rotate backward. The upper preset temperature and the lower preset temperature may be set to be different from each other or set to be the same.

Once the cooling fan 147 is rotated forward, air inside the freezing chamber 121 and the refrigerating chamber 122 may be moved along the circulation path 140 via the lower opening 142 and the lower communication portion 119, respectively. The air moves to the upper side along the circulation path 140 and contacts the evaporator 145. During such process, the air may be heat-exchanged to be cooled. The air cooled while passing through the evaporator 145 may be discharged to the upper side via the cooling fan 147. Some of the discharged cool air may be discharged to the freezing chamber 121 and some may be introduced to the cool air duct 125 through the upper communication portion 117. The cool air introduced into the cool air duct 125 may be discharged to the refrigerating chamber 122 and may move to the lower side to thus cool the refrigerating chamber 122.

Once the cooling fan 147 starts to rotate forward, cool air is intensively-discharged to an upper region of the refrigerating chamber 122. This may cause the temperature of the upper region of the refrigerating chamber 122 to be more rapidly lowered than that of a central region and/or a lower region of the refrigerating chamber 122.

In a situation where the refrigerating chamber 122 is divided into a plurality of sections (e.g., four sections) in the upper and lower directions, the uppermost section may have a relatively low temperature (median temperature or average temperature) and may experience the greatest temperature change. On the other hand, the lowermost section of the refrigerating chamber 122 may have a relatively high temperature (median temperature or average temperature) and may experience the smallest temperature change. The second and third sections may have temperature characteristics such that the median temperature (or average temperature) is increased towards the lowermost section, but the degree of change is decreased towards the lowermost section.

Having described a scenario where the fan 147 is rotated forward, there is at lease one scenario where the fan 147 may be rotated backward. If an upper temperature of the refrigerating chamber 122 is less than the upper preset temperature and a lower temperature of the refrigerating chamber 122 exceeds the lower preset temperature, the controller 150 may control the cooling fan 147 to rotate backward.

Once the cooling fan 147 is rotated backward, as shown in FIG. 5, a flowing direction of air along the circulation path 140 may be changed. That is, the cooling fan 147 may suck air disposed at the upper side and may discharge the sucked air to the lower side. Consequently, air may be sucked to the upper opening 144 of the freezing chamber 121 and may be discharged to the lower opening 142.

Air inside the refrigerating chamber 122 may be introduced to the freezing chamber 121 through the upper communication portion 117 and cool air disposed below the circulation path 140 may be directly supplied to a lower region of the refrigerating chamber 122 through the lower communication portion 119. In this manner, the lower region of the refrigerating chamber 122 can be rapidly cooled. Further, since cool air inside the freezing chamber 121 is not directly supplied to the sufficiently-cooled upper region of the refrigerating chamber 122, food items stored in the upper region of the refrigerating chamber 122 are not overcooled.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to another embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. The same components as those of the aforementioned embodiment will be provided with the same reference numerals, and the same explanations will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, a refrigerator similar to the refrigerator shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 is provided. The main difference is that this refrigerator may have blowing fan 155 provided at the lower communication portion 117. While the blowing fan 155 is shown disposed in the lower communication portion, it is understood that the blowing fan 155 may be provided at the circulation path 140.

The blowing fan 155 may be configured to blow cool air inside the freezing chamber 121 into the refrigerating chamber 122 when rotated and may take the form of an axial fan. The blowing fan 155 may be configured to be smaller that the cooling fan 147 and to have a smaller blowing capacity than the cooling fan 147.

The refrigerator may include a controller 150 configured to control the cooling fan 147 and the blowing fan 155 based on a sensed temperature in the storage chamber 120. As shown in FIG. 7, the temperature sensor unit 160 configured to sense inner temperatures of the storage chamber 120 (more specifically, the refrigerating chamber 122) may be connected to the controller 150 so as to transmit or receive an electric signal. The cooling fan 147 and the blowing fan 155 may be connected to the controller 150 in a controllable manner.

For example, the controller 150 may control the blowing fan 155 to rotate when the cooling ran 147 is rotated backward. As a result, the amount of cool air provided to the refrigerating chamber 122 when the cooling fan 147 is rotated backward can be increased. Accordingly, a lower region of the refrigerating chamber 122 can be more rapidly cooled. In the related art, a peripheral temperature of the lower region of the refrigerating chamber 122 is increased when food items of a high temperature are introduced into the lower region and the upper region of the refrigerating chamber 122 is overcooled due to cool air continuously supplied thereto for cooling of the lower region. However, in the present invention, the lower region can be rapidly cooled and the upper region can be prevented from being overcooled.

If an upper temperature of the refrigerating chamber 122 exceeds an upper preset temperature and a lower temperature of the refrigerating chamber 122 exceeds a lower preset temperature, the controller 150 may control the cooling fan 147 to rotate forward as described previously. If the upper temperature of the refrigerating chamber 122 is less than the upper preset temperature and the lower temperature of the refrigerating chamber 122 exceeds the lower preset temperature, the controller 150 may control the cooling fan 147 to rotate backward and may control the blowing fan 155 to rotate.

Once the cooling fan 147 starts to rotate backward, air may be sucked to the upper opening 144 of the freezing chamber 121 and cool air may be discharged to the lower opening 142. Further, air inside the refrigerating chamber 122 may be sucked to the freezing chamber 121 through the upper communication portion 117 of the refrigerating chamber 122. And cool air disposed below the circulation path 140 may be directly supplied to the lower region of the refrigerating chamber 122 through the lower communication portion 119. Here, the blowing fan 155 may serve to increase the amount of air by controlling cool air to rapidly move towards the refrigerating chamber 122 via the lower communication portion 119. As a result, the lower region of the refrigerating chamber 122 can be more rapidly cooled. Further, since cool air is not directly supplied to the sufficiently-cooled upper region of the refrigerating chamber 122, food items stored in the upper region of the refrigerating chamber 122 are not overcooled.

Hereinafter, a refrigerator according to still another embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the refrigerator according to still another embodiment of the present invention may include a refrigerator body 110 having a storage chamber 120, circulation paths 170 and 190 having a plurality of openings 172, 174, 192 and 194, respectively, spaced from each other and communicating with the storage chamber 120, evaporators 175 and 195 configured to cool air, cooling fans 177 and 197 which can be rotated forward and backward and configured to circulate cool air in the storage chamber 120, temperature sensor units 180 and 200 configured to sense inner temperatures of the storage chamber 120 and a controller 150 configured to control rotation directions of the cooling fans 177 and 197 based on results of the temperature sensor units 180 and 200.

The storage chamber 120 may be provided with a freezing chamber 121 and a refrigerating chamber 122 partitioned from each other in a state where a mullion 115 is disposed therebetween. The temperature sensor unit 180 may be a freezing chamber temperature sensor unit provided at the freezing chamber 121 and the temperature sensor unit 200 may be a refrigerating chamber temperature sensor unit provided at the refrigerating chamber 122. The circulation path 170 may be a freezing chamber circulation path provided at the freezing chamber 121 and the circulation path 190 may be a refrigerating chamber circulation path provided at the refrigerating chamber 122.

A freezing chamber evaporator 175 may be provided at the freezing chamber circulation path 170 and a refrigerating chamber evaporator 195 may be provided at the refrigerating chamber circulation path 190. As a result, air inside the freezing chamber 121 and the refrigerating chamber 122 can be cooled while flowing along the circulation paths 170 and 190, respectively.

A freezing chamber cooling fan 177 may be provided at the freezing chamber circulation path 170 and a refrigerating chamber cooling fan 197 may be provided at the refrigerating chamber circulation path 190. As a result, flow of air inside the freezing chamber circulation path 170 and the refrigerating chamber circulation path 190 can be accelerated. Both cooling fans 177 and 197 can be configured to rotate forward and backward.

The freezing chamber circulation path 170 may be provided with a lower opening 172 and an upper opening 174 through which air inside the freezing chamber 121 can be introduced and discharged out. The freezing chamber temperature sensor unit 180 configured to sense inner temperature of the freezing chamber 121 may be provided at the freezing chamber 121. The freezing chamber temperature sensor unit 180 may be provided with a freezing chamber upper temperature sensor 182 and a freezing chamber lower temperature sensor 184.

The refrigerating chamber circulation path 190 may be provided with a lower opening 192 and an upper opening 194 through which air inside the refrigerating chamber 122 can be introduced and discharged out. The refrigerating chamber temperature sensor unit 200 configured to sense an inner temperature of the refrigerating chamber 122 may be provided at the refrigerating chamber 122. The refrigerating chamber temperature sensor unit 200 may be provided with a refrigerating chamber upper temperature sensor 202 and a refrigerating chamber lower temperature sensor 204.

The freezing chamber cooling fan 177 and the refrigerating chamber cooling fan 197 may both be configured as axial fans. Because of this arrangement, the amount of air discharged through the lower openings 172 and 192 can be reduced when rotation directions of the cooling fans 177 and 197 are converted. Alternatively, the freezing chamber cooling fan 177 and the refrigerating chamber cooling fan 197 may be configured centrifugal fans. In this case, a freezing chamber blowing fan (not shown) and a refrigerating chamber blowing fan (not shown) may be provided at the lower openings, respectively. The freezing chamber blowing fan may be driven when the freezing chamber cooling fan 177 is rotated backward, and the refrigerating chamber blowing fan may be driven when the refrigerating chamber cooling fan 197 is rotated backward.

The refrigerator according to this embodiment may include a controller 150 configured to sense temperatures inside the freezing chamber 121 and the refrigerating chamber 122 and to control the cooling fans 177 and 197 to rotate forward or backward based on the sensed temperatures.

As shown in FIG. 9, the freezing chamber temperature sensor unit 180 and the refrigerating chamber temperature sensor unit 200 may be connected to the controller 150. Under this configuration, the controller 150 may detect inner temperatures of the freezing chamber 121 and the refrigerating chamber 122. The freezing chamber cooling fan 177 and the refrigerating chamber cooling fan 197 may be connected to the controller 150 so that they can be controlled based on temperatures sensed by the temperature sensor units 180 and 200.

If an upper temperature of the freezing chamber exceeds an upper preset temperature and a lower temperature of the freezing chamber exceeds a lower preset temperature as a sensing result by the freezing chamber temperature sensor unit 180, the controller 150 may control the freezing chamber cooling fan 177 to rotate forward. If the upper temperature of the freezing chamber is less than the upper preset temperature and the lower temperature of the freezing chamber exceeds the lower preset temperature as a sensing result by the freezing chamber temperature sensor unit 180, the controller 150 may control the freezing chamber cooling fan 177 to rotate backward.

If an upper temperature of the refrigerating chamber exceeds an upper preset temperature and a lower temperature of the refrigerating chamber exceeds a lower preset temperature as a sensing result by the refrigerating chamber temperature sensor 200 the controller 150 may control the refrigerating chamber cooling fan 197 to rotate forward. If the upper temperature of the refrigerating chamber is less than the upper preset temperature and the lower temperature of the refrigerating chamber exceeds the lower preset temperature as a sensing result by the refrigerating chamber temperature sensor 200 the controller 150 may control the refrigerating chamber cooling fan 197 to rotate backward.

According to this embodiment, once the refrigerator starts to operate, the controller 150 may sense the temperatures inside each storage chamber 120 by each temperature sensor and the controller 150 may control the cooling fans 177 and 197 to rotate forward or backward based on sensed temperatures of the storage chamber 120.

More specifically, if an upper temperature and a lower temperature of the storage chamber 120 exceed an upper preset temperature and a lower preset temperature, respectively, the controller 150 may control the cooling fan of the corresponding storage chamber 120 to rotate forward. This can allow cool air to be intensively discharged to an upper region of the corresponding storage chamber 120 to rapidly cool the upper region.

On the other hand, if the upper temperature of the storage chamber 120 is less than the upper preset temperature and the lower temperature exceeds the lower preset temperature, the controller 150 may control the cooling fans 177 and 197 to rotate backward. This can allow cool air to be discharged to the lower region of the corresponding storage chamber 120 to intensively cool the lower region and to prevent the sufficiently-cooled upper region from being overcooled.

As aforementioned, in the refrigerator according to one embodiment of the present invention, a discharge direction of cool air discharged into the storage chamber is controlled. This can prevent a deviation in an inner temperature of the storage chamber.

Further, the cooling fan is controlled so that a supply direction of cool air can be converted based on the result of sensed temperatures inside the storage chamber. This can allow a deviation in an inner temperature of the storage chamber to be rapidly solved.

Further, if the temperature of the lower region of the storage chamber exceeds the lower preset temperature, the controller may control the cooling fan to be rotate backward so that cool air can be directly discharged to the lower region of the storage chamber. This can allow the lower region of the storage chamber to be more rapidly cooled.

If the upper temperature and the lower temperature of the storage chamber exceed the upper preset temperature and the lower preset temperature, respectively, the controller may control the cooling fan to rotate forward so that cool air can be discharged to the upper region of the storage chamber. This can allow cool air inside the storage chamber to be circulated by the cooling fan and to be circulated by convection. As a result, the storage chamber can be more rapidly cooled.

Further, if the temperature inside the storage chamber is high, the cooling fan is rotated forward to first cool the upper region of the storage chamber. Then, if the upper region of the storage chamber is cooled, the cooling fan is rotated backward to directly supply cool air to the lower region of the storage chamber. This can prevent the upper region of the storage chamber from being overcooled and allow the lower region of the storage chamber to be more rapidly cooled.

The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be considered as limiting the present disclosure. The present teachings can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. This description is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The features, structures, methods, and other characteristics of the exemplary embodiments described herein may be combined in various ways to obtain additional and/or alternative exemplary embodiments.

As the present features may be embodied in several forms without departing from the characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be considered broadly within its scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator comprising: a refrigerator body having at least a first storage chamber and a second storage chamber; an evaporator located at the first storage chamber; a cooling fan disposed at one side of the evaporator, the cooling fan being configured to be rotatable forward and backward; a circulation path formed to include the evaporator and the cooling fan, the circulation path having a plurality of openings at upper and lower parts of the first storage chamber; an upper communication portion arranged to connect upper regions of each of the first and second storage chambers; a lower communication portion arranged to connect lower regions of each of the first and second storage chambers; a temperature sensor unit configured to sense inner temperatures of the second storage chamber; and a controller being configured to control a rotation direction of the cooling fan based on the detected temperatures of the temperature sensor unit.
 2. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the temperature sensor unit includes an upper temperature sensor located at the upper part of the second storage chamber and a lower temperature sensor located at the lower part of the second storage chamber.
 3. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to control the cooling fan of the first storage chamber to rotate forward when an upper temperature of the second storage chamber exceeds an upper preset temperature and a lower temperature of the second storage chamber exceeds a lower preset temperature.
 4. The refrigerator of claim 2, wherein the controller is configured to control the cooling fan of the first storage chamber to rotate backward when an upper temperature of the second storage chamber is less than an upper preset temperature and a lower temperature of the second storage chamber exceeds a lower preset temperature.
 5. The refrigerator of claim 4, wherein the refrigerator further comprises a blowing fan located at the lower communication portion, and wherein the controller controls the blowing fan to rotate when the cooling fan of the first storage chamber rotates backward.
 6. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the plurality of openings include an upper opening provided at an upper region of the first storage chamber and a lower opening provided at a lower region of the first storage chamber.
 7. The refrigerator of claim 6, wherein the upper opening is formed in plurality, the plurality of upper openings being spaced from each other in the vertical direction and a horizontal direction.
 8. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the cooling fan of the first storage chamber is a centrifugal fan.
 9. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the refrigerator body is provided with a mullion extending in the vertical direction, the mullion being configured to separate the first and second storage chambers from each other, and wherein the upper communication portion and the lower communication portion are formed in the mullion.
 10. The refrigerator of claim 1, wherein the first storage chamber is a freezing chamber and the second storage chamber is a refrigerating chamber.
 11. A refrigerator comprising: a refrigerator body having a plurality of storage chambers, each storage chamber including: an evaporator; a cooling fan being disposed at one side of the evaporator, the cooling fan being configured to be rotatable forward and backward; a circulation path formed to enclose the evaporator and the cooling fan, the circulation path having a plurality of openings at upper and lower parts of the storage chamber; and a temperature sensor unit configured to sense inner temperatures of the second storage chamber; and a controller configured to control a rotation direction of each cooling fan based on detected temperatures of the temperature sensor units for the corresponding storage chamber.
 12. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the refrigerator body is provided with a mullion extending in the vertical direction, the mullion being configured to separate adjacent storage chambers from each other.
 13. The refrigerator of claim 12, wherein the plurality of openings in each storage chamber includes an upper opening provided at an upper region thereof and a lower opening provided at a lower region thereof.
 14. The refrigerator of claim 12, wherein the upper opening is formed in plurality, the plurality of upper openings being spaced from each other in the vertical direction and a horizontal direction.
 15. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein each temperature sensor unit includes an upper temperature sensor located at the upper part of the storage chamber and a lower temperature sensor located at the lower part of the storage chamber.
 16. The refrigerator of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to control the cooling fan of the storage chamber to rotate forward when an upper temperature of the storage chamber exceeds an upper preset temperature and a lower temperature of the storage chamber exceeds a lower preset temperature.
 17. The refrigerator of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to control the cooling fan of the storage chamber to rotate backward when an upper temperature of the storage chamber is less than an upper preset temperature and a lower temperature of the second storage chamber exceeds a lower preset temperature.
 18. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the cooling fan is an axial fan.
 19. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein the cooling fan is a centrifugal fan.
 20. The refrigerator of claim 11, wherein one of the storage chambers is a freezing chamber and another of the storage chambers is a refrigerating chamber. 